WEBVTT

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I have simply wanted to take a little season here,

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to look at some of the most pronounced
attributes of God, or descriptions of God,

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that it feels like we get in God's Word.

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And I dealt with God is Creator,

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just simply because of the weight of the volume
of text that we get throughout our Bibles,

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where God is declaring Himself to be the
Creator of the heavens and the earth.

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That is a very prominent reality in Scripture.

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So we looked at that, God is Creator.

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We looked at God being holy. God is holy, holy, holy.

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That is the only attribute of God that is raised to the third power.

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So we looked at that, that's very pronounced in Scripture.

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Also, we have the various portions of Scripture
where God is not identified with an adjective –

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like He's merciful, or He's faithful –

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but rather God is identified with a noun.

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He is equated to something,

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or something is described as what God is, what His essence is.

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And we looked at God is Spirit, God is light.

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And today, I want to look at God is love. (P)

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1st John. John hits us with these three words twice;

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once in 1st John 4:8, "Anyone who does not love
does not know God, because God is love."

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And then again down in verse 16,

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"So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.

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God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him."

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So that's where I want to go today: God is Love. (P)

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Let's seek the Lord one more time.

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Father, I'm most certain that no man has ever been sufficient

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to even scratch the surface of this.

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And if no other man has, I'm certainly not.

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Father, the apostle Paul prayed long ago that the Ephesians,

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along with all the other saints, would have the power, the strength,

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to comprehend with all the saints, something about the love of Christ.

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When we look at this we recognize it takes
divine power to expand our minds;

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it takes the power of the Spirit of God in our inner beings

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to even be able to unleash the realities of the
kinds of things that we're going to look at.

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And Lord, this will all be dry, and dead,
and no good, unless you attend to it.

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Lord, we can speak, and words can just be words -

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they don't resonate, they don't strike deeply, they don't affect us.

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So often, that's the case.

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But Lord, we know what it is, some of us know;

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Lord we've tasted, we know what it is when suddenly
the truth of God's Word speaks to us, You speak to us.

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And it's full, it's rich, it's electric.

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Father, we pray for that kind of help.

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If Paul found himself feeling weak
and bending his knee before the Father,

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then Lord we would, if not in reality, bend them
and bend our knees in heart right now.

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Lord, calling on You for the help that only You can give,

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the strength that only You can give,

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to comprehend the love of Christ and what it is,

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and the fullness and the vastness and the dimensions of it,

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the height and the depth.

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Lord, to know what it is; for us to perceive,
even in a little bit, that God is love.

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Father, I pray that You would help us to perceive it,

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so that as we walk away from this place today, as we go about our lives,

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something about this would resonate with us in our minds,

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our thoughts, our ideas, our hearts, our worldview of things.

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Lord, move upon us please, in Christ's name I pray. Amen. (P)

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So, God is Love.

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That is the task at hand, to try to just tap this in some way.

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What do I say? I mean, where do I go with this?

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The truth is, I do feel helpless,

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so I'm going to simply attempt to make some observations about this,

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and to bring you along with me in these observations,

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concerning the fact that God is love.

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And I trust that the Lord might in some way, to some degree,

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help make these things real to us.

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So what do I have? I think I have five observations. (P)

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The first one is this.

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It's very simple, but I want you to think about it.

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John says God is love.

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He doesn't say merely, or only, that God is loving.

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And there's a difference, and I think we feel the difference to that.

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We feel a weight, we feel a depth, when you speak that way.

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Scripture says God is merciful, but it never says God is mercy.

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And Scripture says God is holy - even holy, holy, holy -

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but it never says God is holiness.

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That doesn't mean, necessarily, that statements couldn't be made like that,

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but that God never revealed Himself like that.

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That's all that means.

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And God has specifically chosen, not to just come and say,

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"Behold, I am this God who is loving."

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He says, "I am love."

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In other words, I define that.

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I define the essence of what love is.

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John is taking "love", you know what he's doing?

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He is making it the defining moral quality
of God's very being and nature.

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"God is" – that has to do with essence,
who He is, what He is, how He is.

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He's saying, "God is love."

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This is God's representative virtue: God is, Himself, love.

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And listen, this isn't just simply saying, this is how God responds to man;

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that because God is love, God loves man.

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Now that may be true. He is this fountain of love, and He overflows.

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But you know what you find?

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What you find is, Jesus is giving us glimpses, doesn't He?

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He's talking about, to His disciples there in the
Upper Room discourse in John's gospel

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as Jesus is preparing to go away,

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He's talking about the love that the Father has for Him,

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and He's desiring that that same trinitarian love would sweep us in.

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The fact is, God is love; and God is love if man never existed.

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God is love. (P)

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I mean, when you consider angels, God is love.

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But when you consider the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

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what you find, what you look:

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Scripture, you go back before man ever existed,

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and you see that God Himself is a fountain of love.

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And the inner-trinitarian relationship
is one that just overflows with love:

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the Father loving the Son, and the Son the Father; and both, the Spirit.

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That is the nature of God – it is to love.

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And wherever you find Him there is love, whether man is there or not.

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He is hitting at the very essence of who and what God is:

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God is love. Love is what God is.

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God is not God if He is not love.

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I mean, if you remove love from God,
you might as well try to remove God from God,

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because God is love.

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That's what He is, you cannot separate the two.

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To strip God of love is to strip God of God. (P)

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I mean, you think about this: you imagine us.

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I mean, typically among men and women,

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it is women who are considered the fairer sex of humankind.

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You imagine a woman, and she's beautiful.

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She's beautiful in physical appearance, she's beautiful in humility,

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she's beautiful in godliness, she's beautiful in disposition,

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she's beautiful in personality.

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Now look, if somebody recognizes
what everybody tends to recognize

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with these eyes and with our ears, with our perception;

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if somebody says, "She is beautiful,"

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well, we have an idea about that.

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But if someone else says, "She isn't just beautiful, she is beauty itself."

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Now see, suddenly we feel that.

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That's like saying that she defines what beauty is.

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Beauty gets its definition from her:
she's the sum and fullness of the term.

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And that's exactly what John wants us to feel.

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Love gets its very definition from all that God is.

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You have to understand this:

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anything in this world that is true love, resonates,

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it's reflected from, God is responsible for.

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It comes from Him.

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He is the defining One of love.

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He's the defining essence of love.

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He's the defining character of love.

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He is the defining attribute of love.

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All that love is, He defines. It's what He is. (P)

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Yes, this is radical terminology, for God's essence to be defined to us.

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He is the perfection of love. He's the fullness of it.

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Anything, I mean, you want to know the standard? There He is.

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Many have understood God is love.

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They picture it like this: it is His very essence.

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Every other thing that's true about God,
swims in the ocean of this love.

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Every other thing.

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If you take His holiness, you're going to find love there.

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If you take His omnipotence, you're going to find love there.

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Now listen to this, two men

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(these are two of my favorites, and of course they would write on this):

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Edward Payson and Octavius Winslow.

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Edward Payson, who I have grown to
appreciate immensely in the last year,

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listen to what he says:

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"As the light which proceeds from the sun

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may easily be separated into many different colors," –

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and if you have a prism you can do that, that's what the rainbow is.

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Light that comes from the sun to us
actually comes in many different colors,

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and it can be separated.

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And what Payson is saying is: "Just as that light from the sun

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may be easily separated into many different colors,

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so the holy love of God..."

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He sees it to be like that light, that if you bring out the proper prism,

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it may diffuse itself into a multiplicity of colors.

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In other words, God's faithfulness, God's compassion,

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God's mercy, God's justice,

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all these different hues of this light of God.

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He says "which is the light and glory of His nature,

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may be separated into a variety of moral attributes and perfections.

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But though separated, they're still love.

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His whole nature and essence is love.

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His will, His works, His words, are love.

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He is nothing, and can do nothing, but love." (P)

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Octavius Winslow says this: "Love is so completely the essence of God

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that it shines out in every perfection of His nature,

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and is exhibited in every act of His administration.

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He is nothing, and can do nothing, foreign to Himself.

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Consequently, He is nothing, and can do nothing,
in which His love is not an essential quality.

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All the streams of a fountain must partake essentially
of the source from where they rise.

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All the rays of light, whatever their prismatic hues,

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must partake essentially of the sun from where they flow.

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And were not God's perfections thus modified and softened by love,

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were they not led on by this commanding perfection of His nature,

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each one and all combined would be terribly against us.

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His wisdom would baffle us. His power would crush us.

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His holiness would terrify us. His justice would condemn us." (P)

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John Wesley says this: " 'God is love' intimates
that this is His darling, His reigning attribute

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– the attribute that sheds an amiable glory
on all His other perfections."

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I mean, what those men believe, is that love
resonates from God in everything He does.

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It must, because God is love.

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Listen, when you think about the other places

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where a noun is set forth to describe the essence of God –

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God is spirit – is there anything God does where He isn't spirit?

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Is there anything He is, that doesn't come back to the fact that He is spirit?

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God is light – everything He does is light;

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everything about Him reveals light, it sheds light, it gives light.

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He is the Father of lights.

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And in the same way, John says, "God is love."

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Not just that He's loving, He is love.

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That's my first observation: He is love.

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That is the God we have to deal with – a God who is love.

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And it isn't just that He is, He has revealed that to us.

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He said, "Mankind, I reveal Myself to you this way: God is love.

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Whatever else you may think about Me, I am love."

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That is the kind of God we want, folks.

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There are many things about God that are true,

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and they're mysteries because God has never revealed them to us.

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But look how He reveals Himself,
this is how He wants to be known by us. (P)

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Second observation: What do we make of this love?

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Well, I want us to see how John describes this love,

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because he certainly does.

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John says that God is love, and John also gives us some idea.

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He's not bashful as to what he means by love.

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And look, this is important, because in our day and age
we need love to be described to us.

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We live, do we not, we live a world where a guy sleeps with a girl,

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he defiles the girl, and he says, "I love you."

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And so, in our world today love is pretty much set equal to sexual attraction.

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Or a woman comes along, and she says to a man, "I love you."

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And he says, "Okay, marry me." They get married.

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And then before long, she runs off with her boss.

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Why? Because what she really meant by that was,

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"I love you as long as I like what I get from you, as long as you fulfill me;

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but when you no longer fulfill me, then I no longer love you."

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Or somebody says, "I love the San Antonio Spurs,"

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and it's nothing else but another word for idolatry.

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Or somebody says, "Oh, I love that kind of food,"

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and all it is, is a trivializing of a very weighty expression –

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we bring it down to basically mundane likes and dislikes.

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And so we need some idea.

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We need a God-given definition. (P)

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What does love look like? What is John's description of this?

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Look, why is it that our world around us
seems to be so blind to what love is?

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Well, bottom line this:

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What does Scripture say about man in his natural state?

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It says that he's alienated from God.

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Well, here's the thing: God is love, man is alienated from God;

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man is alienated from what love really is.

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If you want to know love, you have to know God.

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And man in his natural state is alienated from God,

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so he's alienated from any right perception of what love truly is.

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But here comes John.

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I mean, this is very telling, very simple.

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1st John 3:16.

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Not John 3:16, but 1st John 3:16:

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"By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us."

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Now this is the love of God to us, the love of Christ:

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He laid down His life - a willingness to give even if the cost is high.

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It's sacrificial. Giving, benevolence, kindness.

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That's the idea in his mind. (P)

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Now look, he goes on here to say this:

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"By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us,

00:20:24.396 --> 00:20:28.553
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers."

00:20:28.554 --> 00:20:33.507
In other words, if you come to know this God who is love,

00:20:33.508 --> 00:20:36.605
then you will likewise love.

00:20:36.606 --> 00:20:40.520
And in fact, John says, if we say we know God,

00:20:40.520 --> 00:20:48.031
but we hate our brother, we are liars, we don't really know Him.

00:20:48.032 --> 00:20:51.874
Here's what this ought to produce:

00:20:51.875 --> 00:20:55.459
it ought to produce a laying down of our lives for our brothers.

00:20:55.460 --> 00:20:59.149
But listen to this, verse 17, "If anyone has the world's goods."

00:20:59.150 --> 00:21:01.235
Now you have to understand what's going on here.

00:21:01.236 --> 00:21:04.506
He's saying, look, you claim to be a child of God,

00:21:04.507 --> 00:21:06.210
you'll lay down your life for the brothers.

00:21:06.211 --> 00:21:08.648
Why? Because that's what love does.

00:21:08.649 --> 00:21:12.843
That's what God's love did, so that's what it ought to produce in you.

00:21:12.844 --> 00:21:15.129
God is the standard. God is love.

00:21:15.130 --> 00:21:20.063
If you say you know Him, this is what it ought to produce in people that know Him.

00:21:20.064 --> 00:21:22.173
And so, He's always the standard.

00:21:22.174 --> 00:21:26.772
And so, if God is calling for us to lay down our lives for others,

00:21:26.773 --> 00:21:28.589
it's because He first did it.

00:21:28.590 --> 00:21:33.313
It's because He is love, and He has done what is the greatest expression of love. (P)

00:21:33.314 --> 00:21:36.433
And so in verse 17 when he calls us to this:

00:21:36.434 --> 00:21:40.066
"If anyone has this world's goods and sees his brother in need,

00:21:40.067 --> 00:21:44.540
yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?"

00:21:44.541 --> 00:21:48.482
You see what he's saying? How does God's love abide in him?

00:21:48.483 --> 00:21:49.927
Why would he say that?

00:21:49.928 --> 00:21:54.355
Because God's love does open His heart.

00:21:54.356 --> 00:21:59.774
That is the nature of God, to open His heart where there is need.

00:21:59.775 --> 00:22:05.831
Have you... it's mind-boggling; it really is.

00:22:05.832 --> 00:22:12.751
You go to Scripture, and you look at anyone
who sincerely calls on the Lord for help,

00:22:12.752 --> 00:22:14.494
whatever state they're in.

00:22:14.495 --> 00:22:21.408
I mean, they can be as wicked as Manasseh himself, wicked as Ahab,

00:22:21.409 --> 00:22:25.277
but when they call unto the Lord, He came.

00:22:25.278 --> 00:22:26.874
I mean, you watch Israel.

00:22:26.875 --> 00:22:30.517
They turned their back on God, again and again and again.

00:22:30.518 --> 00:22:32.883
They went after their idols, again and again and again.

00:22:32.884 --> 00:22:34.729
They went after the broken cisterns.

00:22:34.730 --> 00:22:38.946
Again, God sent judgments one after another because of their idolatries,

00:22:38.947 --> 00:22:43.271
because of their sin, over and over and over and over again. (P)

00:22:43.272 --> 00:22:48.302
But you show me any place in Scripture,
where they said, "Lord, we've sinned,"

00:22:48.303 --> 00:22:51.326
and they cry out to Him. What does He do?

00:22:51.327 --> 00:22:58.359
I mean, what did Jonah know was going to happen if he went to the Ninevites?

00:22:58.360 --> 00:23:00.435
He knew his God.

00:23:00.435 --> 00:23:03.526
He knew his God better than some of us do.

00:23:03.527 --> 00:23:05.298
That's what caused his reluctance:

00:23:05.299 --> 00:23:10.024
he was so certain God was going to have
mercy on those miserable Ninevites.

00:23:10.025 --> 00:23:15.290
And if you ever study, historically, what the Ninevites were like, they were brutal.

00:23:15.291 --> 00:23:18.958
They ripped pregnant women open, and many of them Jews.

00:23:18.959 --> 00:23:21.659
They were just brutal people.

00:23:21.660 --> 00:23:27.200
And they repent, and God just showers them. That's it.

00:23:27.201 --> 00:23:33.483
He says, "If anyone has this world's goods and sees his brother in need,

00:23:33.484 --> 00:23:36.772
yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?

00:23:36.773 --> 00:23:41.017
Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and truth."

00:23:41.018 --> 00:23:44.009
We have a God who loves in deed and truth.

00:23:44.010 --> 00:23:47.138
We have a God who doesn't close His heart.

00:23:47.139 --> 00:23:51.084
His heart is not closed to your need. (P)

00:23:51.085 --> 00:24:01.064
And the beauty of this is, "God is love" trumps whatever wickedness we have.

00:24:01.065 --> 00:24:07.101
I mean, you can ever be so wicked, or so foul and filthy with sin,

00:24:07.102 --> 00:24:10.845
that if you will but cry to Him, He will love you.

00:24:10.846 --> 00:24:14.656
He will love you, not just in word and talk, but in deed and truth.

00:24:14.657 --> 00:24:17.897
It's God's nature to give. It's God's nature to be kind.

00:24:17.898 --> 00:24:19.140
He's good.

00:24:19.141 --> 00:24:23.043
He's not merely benevolent, He is benevolence itself.

00:24:23.044 --> 00:24:24.781
That's what John is telling us.

00:24:24.782 --> 00:24:28.554
God is infinite with His love, it's like an ocean.

00:24:28.555 --> 00:24:31.000
God invites all of us to dive in.

00:24:31.001 --> 00:24:34.276
That's what He is doing in Scripture – constantly calling on us.

00:24:34.276 --> 00:24:35.312
Constantly.

00:24:35.313 --> 00:24:41.885
I am certain God is a thousandfold more willing
to pour His love and kindness upon sinners,

00:24:41.886 --> 00:24:44.313
than many of us think He is.

00:24:44.314 --> 00:24:51.000
I mean, listen to Scripture, Isaiah 30:18,
"The LORD waits to be gracious to you."

00:24:51.001 --> 00:24:54.476
What kind of words are those?

00:24:54.477 --> 00:24:58.355
Do you think it might portray a picture of a God

00:24:58.356 --> 00:25:03.488
who extends His arms in love, just like a father to his children?

00:25:03.489 --> 00:25:04.923
You know how when they're learning to walk,

00:25:04.924 --> 00:25:07.338
you put out your hands and you say, "Come to me"?

00:25:07.339 --> 00:25:13.122
This is the picture – God waiting to just wrap us up in His arms. (P)

00:25:13.123 --> 00:25:16.017
You say, "Is that really what God does?"

00:25:16.018 --> 00:25:18.720
I mean, listen to this, Romans 10:21,

00:25:18.721 --> 00:25:24.379
"All day long I have held out My hands
to a disobedient and contrary people."

00:25:24.379 --> 00:25:29.014
I mean, look at Him in your mind, His hands of love are extended.

00:25:29.015 --> 00:25:31.104
This is the God who is love.

00:25:31.105 --> 00:25:38.528
He comes to sinners. He really does, with sincerity.

00:25:38.529 --> 00:25:40.294
There's no falseness in this.

00:25:40.295 --> 00:25:44.579
He bids men to come and dive into His love.

00:25:44.580 --> 00:25:47.521
He calls to men to come.

00:25:47.522 --> 00:25:56.260
I mean, look at Him there: arms open wide
to receive sin-stained, broken, rebellious people.

00:25:56.261 --> 00:26:00.647
If you will fall into those hands I guarantee you this,

00:26:00.648 --> 00:26:02.246
you'll find them to be hands of love,

00:26:02.247 --> 00:26:05.007
you'll find them to be hands that are gentle.

00:26:05.008 --> 00:26:09.940
God will lavish on you the greatest gifts that love can devise.

00:26:09.941 --> 00:26:11.341
Do you see John here?

00:26:11.342 --> 00:26:15.295
He's looking at other Christians, and he's saying,

00:26:15.296 --> 00:26:21.043
"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us,

00:26:21.044 --> 00:26:26.667
that we should be called the children of God."

00:26:26.668 --> 00:26:35.346
Kevin in the first hour mentioned John 14:21, 23 –

00:26:35.347 --> 00:26:40.044
Jesus is promising to manifest Himself to His people;

00:26:40.045 --> 00:26:43.736
the Father promises to come and make His dwelling place.

00:26:43.737 --> 00:26:46.221
God promises to give Himself to us.

00:26:46.222 --> 00:26:48.035
I am His, and He is mine. (P)

00:26:48.036 --> 00:26:52.533
You talk about the Song of Solomon, you ever go read there,

00:26:52.534 --> 00:26:57.702
you see that the love there is a picture of the love that God has for His people.

00:26:57.703 --> 00:27:04.789
And, look, to sinners He holds out those hands, and He bids men – come.

00:27:04.790 --> 00:27:07.656
Something you and I would not do to an enemy.

00:27:07.657 --> 00:27:13.966
Something you and I would not do
to one that hated us as we have hated Him.

00:27:13.967 --> 00:27:15.740
And He beckons us.

00:27:15.741 --> 00:27:18.355
You think about what He promises to give us.

00:27:18.356 --> 00:27:20.210
We've sang a song, How Beautiful,

00:27:20.211 --> 00:27:24.121
that's about Christ given to the church as a husband;

00:27:24.122 --> 00:27:27.194
us being given to Christ as a bride.

00:27:27.195 --> 00:27:31.802
We get God, we get his manifestations, we get Him in marriage.

00:27:31.803 --> 00:27:34.275
We get the love of God.

00:27:34.276 --> 00:27:36.899
We get the fullness of these things.

00:27:36.900 --> 00:27:41.811
God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.

00:27:41.812 --> 00:27:46.399
Here's this Object of His greatest pleasure and delight.

00:27:46.400 --> 00:27:51.078
He had glory with the Father before this world began in eternity past.

00:27:51.079 --> 00:27:54.425
He was the delight of the Father's heart, the most beloved.

00:27:54.426 --> 00:27:57.774
He looks at Him, "This is My Son, in whom I am well pleased."

00:27:57.775 --> 00:28:00.704
God's heart is moved by the Son;

00:28:00.705 --> 00:28:04.677
and yet [He gave] the Son for His enemies. (P)

00:28:04.678 --> 00:28:06.568
He so loved.

00:28:06.569 --> 00:28:10.640
The argument of Scripture is, if He did that, how will He not...?

00:28:10.641 --> 00:28:15.424
(Kevin also talked about God withholding
no good thing from those that walk uprightly).

00:28:15.425 --> 00:28:19.882
God says, if He gave up His son, if He didn't hold Him back,

00:28:19.883 --> 00:28:22.970
if He was willing to go that far in His demonstrations of love,

00:28:22.971 --> 00:28:25.206
how will He not also give us all things?

00:28:25.207 --> 00:28:29.325
All things, whatever it is that love requires, He says He's going to give.

00:28:29.326 --> 00:28:32.292
I mean, literally we don't even understand;

00:28:32.293 --> 00:28:38.657
we do not yet get it, what God has in store for us.

00:28:38.658 --> 00:28:44.953
And John, he's getting a glimpse of it - it's like breathless,

00:28:44.954 --> 00:28:46.983
you got to behold this.

00:28:46.984 --> 00:28:53.719
I mean, we're getting invited, we're getting adopted,

00:28:53.720 --> 00:29:00.748
into the very family of God Himself – sons and daughters.

00:29:00.749 --> 00:29:06.465
He's saying this is huge, what God's love does.

00:29:06.466 --> 00:29:08.889
God is love. (P)

00:29:08.890 --> 00:29:13.420
Love means God won't close His heart to doing the greatest good

00:29:13.421 --> 00:29:16.524
to those who want His help and His love,

00:29:16.525 --> 00:29:18.716
if they'll have it by way of Jesus Christ.

00:29:18.717 --> 00:29:22.470
I mean, that's my second observation:

00:29:22.471 --> 00:29:25.631
it is, we need some defining element about love.

00:29:25.632 --> 00:29:29.390
And it's giving, it's benevolence, it's kindness.

00:29:29.391 --> 00:29:35.096
It's heaping upon the object of love, all the good it can give.

00:29:35.097 --> 00:29:39.254
And when you have an Almighty God, with whom nothing is impossible,

00:29:39.255 --> 00:29:41.828
who is absolutely filled with love,

00:29:41.829 --> 00:29:47.925
and bent on showing the greatest infinite kindness through all the coming ages;

00:29:47.926 --> 00:29:51.549
to just pour that kindness on a people of His love;

00:29:51.550 --> 00:29:55.435
I mean, you don't want to miss that.

00:29:55.449 --> 00:29:57.523
You don't want to be on the outside looking in.

00:29:57.524 --> 00:30:00.220
This is not just about missing hell, folks.

00:30:00.221 --> 00:30:05.613
This is about getting the riches of Christ Himself, having Him,

00:30:05.614 --> 00:30:07.650
and all the fullness of what that is.

00:30:07.651 --> 00:30:10.668
You do not want to miss that.

00:30:10.669 --> 00:30:14.170
We are called to a world of love,

00:30:14.171 --> 00:30:18.110
where we are going to be swallowed up in the trinitarian love,

00:30:18.111 --> 00:30:24.559
where the same love that the Father has for His Son,
He has for all those adopted sons.

00:30:24.560 --> 00:30:28.131
He pulls us into His family, wraps His arms around us. (P)

00:30:28.132 --> 00:30:34.041
In this world, yes, we get manifestations,
but there we get the fullness.

00:30:34.041 --> 00:30:40.249
I mean, you go back, you talk about reading these biographies.

00:30:40.250 --> 00:30:42.850
Read about some of these people's lives

00:30:42.851 --> 00:30:45.576
as they were yet breathing the air of this world

00:30:45.577 --> 00:30:47.885
and they were on the very thresholds of heaven,

00:30:47.886 --> 00:30:53.910
and their eyes are being opened up to the fullness
of what love has for them on the other side.

00:30:53.911 --> 00:30:56.907
And they can't hardly put it in words.

00:30:56.908 --> 00:30:59.818
They come back to those on this side, and they say,

00:30:59.819 --> 00:31:03.697
"You won't believe it if I told you what I am seeing right now."

00:31:03.698 --> 00:31:08.340
They just gasp in joy, astonishment, and awe.

00:31:08.341 --> 00:31:12.233
They say, "If only you could see what it is,

00:31:12.234 --> 00:31:15.444
you would recognize that the things in this world are but a shadow,

00:31:15.445 --> 00:31:18.761
they're diminishing, they're a trifle;

00:31:18.762 --> 00:31:23.232
if you could just see what I see right now."

00:31:23.233 --> 00:31:29.575
So that was the second thing, we need some
idea about what love does, and love gives. (P)

00:31:29.576 --> 00:31:36.190
The third thing: I would say this, this is an observation:

00:31:36.191 --> 00:31:44.753
That God is love, that concept, that idea,
it does not excite us as it should.

00:31:44.754 --> 00:31:49.998
And when I say us, I mean all mankind,
depending on the category you put them in.

00:31:49.999 --> 00:31:53.665
But let's start with the lost man, because we've all been there.

00:31:53.666 --> 00:32:00.497
I mean, what does the lost man think when he hears God is love?

00:32:00.498 --> 00:32:03.378
They just think, "Well, of course He is."

00:32:03.379 --> 00:32:10.183
Lost man loves himself, so lost man expects God is going to love him.

00:32:10.183 --> 00:32:11.900
When we were lost, we love ourselves,

00:32:11.901 --> 00:32:14.293
we expect other people should treat us well,

00:32:14.294 --> 00:32:18.270
we expect people should love us, we expect God should love us.

00:32:18.271 --> 00:32:20.936
They expect it. They yawn.

00:32:20.937 --> 00:32:23.209
I mean, it's not very impressive.

00:32:23.210 --> 00:32:29.003
It doesn't thrill them like professional athletes

00:32:29.004 --> 00:32:32.175
trying to put a ball through a hoop or something like that.

00:32:32.176 --> 00:32:35.345
They yawn at it, but they expect it.

00:32:35.346 --> 00:32:40.332
When they hear God is love, natural man thinks very little

00:32:40.333 --> 00:32:50.626
about what that means about the perfections of God Himself.

00:32:50.627 --> 00:32:58.026
They just imagine that it means that God must
smile on them no matter what they do.

00:32:58.027 --> 00:33:01.435
They can be ever so wicked, they can sin,

00:33:01.436 --> 00:33:03.535
they can do the most grievous things,

00:33:03.536 --> 00:33:05.478
and yet God is still going to smile on them.

00:33:05.479 --> 00:33:08.330
He's just this perpetually smiling Santa Claus,

00:33:08.331 --> 00:33:11.623
that's what they feel when they hear God is love;

00:33:11.624 --> 00:33:14.438
that God could never hate them,

00:33:14.439 --> 00:33:19.256
God could never do anything but show them kindness.

00:33:19.257 --> 00:33:24.892
It sounds good in the natural ear to hear that. (P)

00:33:24.893 --> 00:33:27.520
Fallen man, they imagine in their darkened minds

00:33:27.521 --> 00:33:33.689
that 'God is love' somehow relates to how lovable God finds them.

00:33:33.690 --> 00:33:38.515
Men don't see themselves as this vile, wretched, defiled thing.

00:33:38.516 --> 00:33:43.330
That kind of terminology, you know, "God saved a wretch like me,"

00:33:43.331 --> 00:33:46.645
that's how they used to write the old songs.

00:33:46.646 --> 00:33:49.654
But have you ever seen the modernized versions of some of the songs?

00:33:49.655 --> 00:33:51.238
They like to take words like that out.

00:33:51.239 --> 00:33:53.306
Man doesn't like to hear that anymore.

00:33:53.307 --> 00:33:56.848
Man doesn't like to know about a God
that sees him like that anymore.

00:33:56.849 --> 00:33:59.219
Man likes to think that they're lovable to God:

00:33:59.220 --> 00:34:02.202
"Well, of course, God should love them."

00:34:02.203 --> 00:34:08.018
And, you know, 'God is love', that sounds pleasant to the natural ear,

00:34:08.018 --> 00:34:09.951
because it doesn't sound threatening.

00:34:09.952 --> 00:34:15.183
And what men like to do is, they like to dull, and distort, and dismiss,

00:34:15.184 --> 00:34:18.094
everything that makes a God that is threatening.

00:34:18.094 --> 00:34:22.951
And by the way, the God of Scripture is very threatening to sinful men.

00:34:22.952 --> 00:34:25.181
So this just sounds good.

00:34:25.183 --> 00:34:27.655
Men don't like a God that threatens them. (P)

00:34:27.656 --> 00:34:30.878
But then what happens where we get saved?

00:34:30.879 --> 00:34:33.952
Here you are, you're the new Christian.

00:34:33.953 --> 00:34:37.972
We get saved, and you know, just like me when I...

00:34:37.973 --> 00:34:41.302
I can remember first being exposed to the Doctrines of Grace,

00:34:41.303 --> 00:34:45.717
and you know, I was amazed, as many of you were.

00:34:45.719 --> 00:34:47.335
I can remember reading the Old Testament.

00:34:47.335 --> 00:34:51.150
I can remember Uzzah, he touches that ark:

00:34:51.150 --> 00:34:53.710
Bam!!! God kills him on the spot.

00:34:53.710 --> 00:34:58.022
I'm like, "Whoa. I never knew God was like that."

00:34:58.023 --> 00:35:04.025
Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, and you see them struck down.

00:35:04.026 --> 00:35:05.933
And even in the New Testament, you know,

00:35:05.934 --> 00:35:07.579
people say "Well, that's the Old Testament God."

00:35:07.580 --> 00:35:10.489
No, you come into the New Testament, you have Ananias and Sapphira,

00:35:10.490 --> 00:35:14.207
and God does very similar things there.

00:35:14.208 --> 00:35:17.686
And you know, as a young believer, we can really get taken up with,

00:35:17.687 --> 00:35:20.154
suddenly we're exposed to the hell of God,

00:35:20.155 --> 00:35:22.329
and the wrath of God, and the punishment of God,

00:35:22.330 --> 00:35:24.953
and the fury of God, and the justice of God.

00:35:24.954 --> 00:35:35.555
And we look at those things and we can be moved by that. (P)

00:35:35.556 --> 00:35:39.113
I mean, I can remember as a young Christian not too long...

00:35:39.114 --> 00:35:42.569
I think it was about three years in the Lord when ruby and I got married...

00:35:42.570 --> 00:35:45.931
and I can remember the first checks we got after I was married,

00:35:45.932 --> 00:35:54.794
I had it printed on all my checks - "God is a consuming fire."

00:35:58.169 --> 00:36:03.085
And I always had this picture of some bank teller somewhere,

00:36:03.086 --> 00:36:07.658
reading Hebrews 12:29 on our checks.

00:36:07.659 --> 00:36:10.814
And the truth is, I can remember those early days.

00:36:10.815 --> 00:36:19.475
And it's almost like, you come along to something like Mark 10:21 -

00:36:19.476 --> 00:36:24.970
"Jesus looking at the rich young ruler, loved him,

00:36:24.971 --> 00:36:29.182
and said to him, 'You lack one thing;
go sell all you have, give to the poor,

00:36:29.183 --> 00:36:31.785
and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow Me.'

00:36:31.786 --> 00:36:36.370
That man went away sorrowful."

00:36:36.371 --> 00:36:41.013
And, you know, I found in those early days
all these Calvinists that come along,

00:36:41.014 --> 00:36:45.177
and they try to distort that, and say that it's not what it says,

00:36:45.178 --> 00:36:48.695
and that Jesus doesn't really... (that must have been Paul),

00:36:48.696 --> 00:36:52.514
because for Jesus to say that He loves somebody like that,

00:36:52.515 --> 00:36:56.962
it obviously had to be one of the elect. (P)

00:36:56.963 --> 00:37:04.299
You know, the truth is, I probably should have had
"Jesus looked at him and loved him" printed on my checks,

00:37:04.300 --> 00:37:09.374
rather than Hebrews 12.

00:37:09.375 --> 00:37:15.545
But the fact is, texts like that, early on, probably didn't excite me.

00:37:15.546 --> 00:37:18.678
"God is a consuming fire" excited me.

00:37:18.679 --> 00:37:21.666
And it should excite us, what is true about God.

00:37:21.667 --> 00:37:27.823
But the fact is that what we find in God's Word

00:37:27.824 --> 00:37:35.037
is a Book that is meant to express the love of God towards sinners.

00:37:35.038 --> 00:37:36.919
And it's everywhere.

00:37:36.920 --> 00:37:44.140
And that invitation of Christ was absolutely sincere to that rich young ruler.

00:37:44.141 --> 00:37:49.385
And if he would have sold it all and found Christ more precious,

00:37:49.386 --> 00:37:52.761
and he would have came to Him, even if he
would have just fallen down right there,

00:37:52.762 --> 00:38:00.042
like another man in Mark's Gospel who said,
"Lord, I believe; help my unbelief";

00:38:00.043 --> 00:38:03.547
if he would have fallen down and said, "Lord, I'm willing to do this,

00:38:03.548 --> 00:38:07.863
I want to do this, but it has such a grasp on me. Save me from it,"

00:38:07.864 --> 00:38:10.735
he'd be in heaven right now.

00:38:10.736 --> 00:38:13.311
It was a valid invitation.

00:38:13.312 --> 00:38:15.771
He did not mock him, it was not empty.

00:38:15.772 --> 00:38:18.121
You can't say, "Well, he wasn't one of God's elect,

00:38:18.122 --> 00:38:21.415
because he walked away sorrowful
and he walked away to his damnation,

00:38:21.416 --> 00:38:26.627
and so Jesus' love for him couldn't have been
valid and real and legitimate and deep."

00:38:26.628 --> 00:38:30.253
And it was, and Scripture says it was. (P)

00:38:30.254 --> 00:38:32.451
But see, as young believers, we do.

00:38:32.451 --> 00:38:35.913
Suddenly, things are revealed to us about God that ought to excite us.

00:38:35.914 --> 00:38:37.467
But it's true, as young believers,

00:38:37.467 --> 00:38:41.397
sometimes the love of God doesn't excite us near as much as it should.

00:38:41.398 --> 00:38:45.103
Do you agree with that? I find that to be the case.

00:38:45.104 --> 00:38:50.437
A lot of times, young believers are more like Boanerges (John and James, right,)

00:38:50.438 --> 00:38:53.745
who wanted to call down fire from heaven.

00:38:53.746 --> 00:38:59.257
It's almost like if we tell people 'God is love,' we're Arminian.

00:38:59.258 --> 00:39:03.435
I mean, that's how young believers feel sometimes.

00:39:03.436 --> 00:39:09.620
And that's not true at all. That is not true.

00:39:09.621 --> 00:39:14.592
God is love. (P)

00:39:15.935 --> 00:39:24.362
Speaking of God's love, Octavius Winslow
observed in his day, over a hundred years ago,

00:39:24.363 --> 00:39:30.792
that there are but few saints of God
who study God's character and God's acts

00:39:30.793 --> 00:39:34.590
in the light of this wondrous perfection of God's nature.

00:39:34.591 --> 00:39:37.845
And he's referring to 'God is love.'

00:39:37.846 --> 00:39:41.048
He observed that many are awed by God's greatness,

00:39:41.049 --> 00:39:44.202
impressed with His holiness, tremble at His power,

00:39:44.203 --> 00:39:52.479
but how few are subdued and drawn to Him by His love.

00:39:52.480 --> 00:39:54.492
God is love. (P)

00:39:54.493 --> 00:39:59.884
Now I had this picture. I was thinking about the apostle John,

00:39:59.885 --> 00:40:03.909
and I was getting this picture in my mind of him.

00:40:03.910 --> 00:40:06.963
He is writing 1st John.

00:40:06.964 --> 00:40:10.834
He's being moved along by the Holy Spirit.

00:40:10.835 --> 00:40:16.908
He's being impressed upon: Divine inspiration is taking place here.

00:40:16.909 --> 00:40:26.250
Can you imagine, as he's penning this letter,
the first moment that idea crossed his mind?

00:40:26.251 --> 00:40:31.392
There was a first moment when the idea that 'God is love'

00:40:31.393 --> 00:40:36.814
would have actually fallen upon the thoughts of John the apostle.

00:40:36.815 --> 00:40:38.889
And I was thinking about the moment,

00:40:38.890 --> 00:40:44.112
the realization that God wants to reveal Himself that way,

00:40:44.113 --> 00:40:47.327
and what it must have done to John right at that moment.

00:40:47.328 --> 00:40:51.462
I mean, you can tell he's already getting worked up in Chapter 3.

00:40:51.463 --> 00:40:55.772
He's like, "Just behold what manner of love this is! Behold what it is!

00:40:55.773 --> 00:40:59.672
Listen, this is out of this world, this is beyond.

00:40:59.673 --> 00:41:02.940
This is such a love that if you can get a hold...

00:41:02.941 --> 00:41:05.088
I mean, look what God has done!

00:41:05.089 --> 00:41:07.667
Have we forgotten who we are and what we've done?

00:41:07.668 --> 00:41:10.668
Have we forgotten how black with sin we were?

00:41:10.669 --> 00:41:12.758
Look what God has done!

00:41:12.759 --> 00:41:15.224
Look at the cost it took Him to do it.

00:41:15.225 --> 00:41:17.766
Look at the blood of His Son flowing." (P)

00:41:17.767 --> 00:41:22.588
And look, He not only just saves us and spares us from hell --

00:41:22.589 --> 00:41:26.139
He could have just saved us, set us on a deserted Pacific Island somewhere,

00:41:26.140 --> 00:41:27.566
it would have been mercy forever.

00:41:27.567 --> 00:41:28.974
You know what He could have done?

00:41:28.975 --> 00:41:33.457
He could have just said, "You know what?
When you die, you're just going to cease to exist."

00:41:33.458 --> 00:41:41.015
That would have been inexpressible mercies to anybody
destined for hell and for eternal punishment.

00:41:41.016 --> 00:41:43.722
But He doesn't just say, "You won't exist."

00:41:43.730 --> 00:41:47.401
He doesn't just say, "Well, stay here on in this world forever."

00:41:47.402 --> 00:41:49.141
He doesn't do that.

00:41:49.142 --> 00:41:52.027
He says, "I'm going to make you My sons and daughters.

00:41:52.028 --> 00:41:55.530
I'm going to pull you into My family.

00:41:55.531 --> 00:42:04.748
And then in the coming ages, I'm going to
demonstrate the fullness of My kindness,

00:42:04.749 --> 00:42:08.032
just immeasurable kindness.

00:42:08.033 --> 00:42:12.985
I'm going to heap on you, those of you that are in Christ,

00:42:12.992 --> 00:42:14.698
I'm going to pour that out."

00:42:14.699 --> 00:42:18.791
And John is just... I can imagine he's carried away.

00:42:18.792 --> 00:42:23.162
And then, the Spirit would have just given him that impression:

00:42:23.163 --> 00:42:32.470
"John, do you know why My salvation is so absolutely a demonstration of love?

00:42:32.471 --> 00:42:35.621
I am love."

00:42:35.622 --> 00:42:40.030
And sometimes it's just the simplest thoughts, but they're so profound.

00:42:40.031 --> 00:42:42.694
Can you imagine the moment that was impressed upon him,

00:42:42.695 --> 00:42:52.092
how it must have just filled him with joy?

00:42:52.093 --> 00:42:57.290
What experience must that have been, John just bursting forth. (P)

00:42:57.291 --> 00:43:01.573
And if you think about it, think about what God does;

00:43:01.574 --> 00:43:07.183
if you just stop and you think for a second,

00:43:07.184 --> 00:43:17.890
God is actually the kind of God, that when a man has his little child dying

00:43:17.891 --> 00:43:22.490
(that we heard about in the first hour), and he goes and he prays to God,

00:43:22.491 --> 00:43:27.949
God says, "Even though death is upon the human race altogether,

00:43:27.950 --> 00:43:31.413
I'm just gonna fill them with joy.

00:43:31.414 --> 00:43:35.488
I'm gonna save their daughter."

00:43:35.489 --> 00:43:39.897
I mean, just think: God created us with human eyeballs,

00:43:39.898 --> 00:43:43.321
and He created sunsets.

00:43:43.322 --> 00:43:48.742
Once in a while, we need to stand back and say, "Why would He do that?"

00:43:48.743 --> 00:43:53.035
Sunsets could have all been brown, or gray,

00:43:53.036 --> 00:43:57.801
or He could have made our eyeballs to never see color.

00:43:57.802 --> 00:44:03.785
Walk into a garden, like a flower garden or the botanical gardens,

00:44:03.786 --> 00:44:06.465
why all the colors?

00:44:06.466 --> 00:44:11.176
Why are crepe myrtle in... these oleanders out here,

00:44:11.177 --> 00:44:14.219
they're blooming with white, but in my yard they're pink.

00:44:14.220 --> 00:44:16.969
I've seen dark red.

00:44:16.970 --> 00:44:21.714
Why? Why did God create flowers?

00:44:21.715 --> 00:44:26.859
Why did God not only make them beautiful,
but give many of them an aroma?

00:44:26.860 --> 00:44:31.049
Have you ever smelled a rose? or a gardenia?

00:44:31.050 --> 00:44:34.832
Who invented that?

00:44:34.833 --> 00:44:40.449
Have you ever wondered why would He make the trees, especially in the North,

00:44:40.450 --> 00:44:46.266
change color to where they're so beautiful in the fall? Why?

00:44:46.267 --> 00:44:49.746
Have you ever thought about the intimacy between a man and a woman?

00:44:49.747 --> 00:44:51.697
Why would God even create that?

00:44:51.698 --> 00:44:56.349
Why would He create us with tongues to delight in food,

00:44:56.350 --> 00:45:04.648
and then make food across the spectrum (every color of the rainbow) for us to eat?

00:45:04.648 --> 00:45:07.405
Why would He make lemon meringue pie?

00:45:07.406 --> 00:45:10.235
Why would He make lemons?

00:45:10.236 --> 00:45:14.804
I mean, have you ever just stood back and thought? Why?

00:45:14.805 --> 00:45:21.485
You think of the rain falling, you think of a gentle breeze:

00:45:21.486 --> 00:45:26.562
we're sinners, and we get to enjoy a breeze?

00:45:26.563 --> 00:45:31.119
When the first cool front comes in the fall we get to enjoy that,

00:45:31.120 --> 00:45:33.767
when we deserve everlasting burnings?

00:45:33.768 --> 00:45:35.753
Have you ever just stood back and asked,

00:45:35.754 --> 00:45:40.067
looked at a baby and said, "Why are babies cute?"

00:45:40.068 --> 00:45:44.929
Or looked up and said, "Why is the blue in the sky beautiful?

00:45:44.930 --> 00:45:51.295
Why are these thunderhead clouds so glorious? Why?

00:45:51.296 --> 00:45:53.895
It's because God is a God of love. (P)

00:45:53.896 --> 00:45:58.776
I mean, brethren, again this is what we did
this last time we had the Lord's supper,

00:45:58.777 --> 00:46:04.158
but have you ever just stop and say, "He sent His Son into the world,

00:46:04.159 --> 00:46:11.014
and the first miracle He did was to change water to wine."

00:46:11.015 --> 00:46:12.438
Why?

00:46:12.439 --> 00:46:19.251
I mean, here, the signature expression of My Son when I send Him

00:46:19.252 --> 00:46:24.373
and He's going to do His first public miracle,

00:46:24.374 --> 00:46:27.229
I'm going to show you what kind of God I am:

00:46:27.230 --> 00:46:31.516
He's going to turn water to wine -

00:46:31.517 --> 00:46:38.171
just the joy and the goodness that He means to heap upon mankind.

00:46:38.172 --> 00:46:45.895
I mean, just go to Scripture, behold God saving Israel for the hundredth time,

00:46:45.896 --> 00:46:48.632
after they've done what's right in their own eyes.

00:46:48.633 --> 00:46:50.734
I mean, look at them, start out with them:

00:46:50.735 --> 00:46:55.773
they come out of Egypt, and they're grumbling;

00:46:55.774 --> 00:47:00.128
and God smites them and then gives them manna.

00:47:00.129 --> 00:47:04.191
He smites them, and then He feeds them, and He gives them water.

00:47:04.192 --> 00:47:10.025
He destroys all the adults, but He shows kindness

00:47:10.026 --> 00:47:13.495
and brings them into the land of Canaan.

00:47:13.496 --> 00:47:18.108
The times of the Judges, they're doing what's right in their own eyes,

00:47:18.109 --> 00:47:23.333
but as soon as they called upon the LORD, what did He do?

00:47:23.334 --> 00:47:27.036
He did the same thing that Jonah knew He was going to do with the Ninevites.

00:47:27.037 --> 00:47:29.676
Why? Because God is love. That's how He is. (P)

00:47:29.676 --> 00:47:33.036
Brethren, look, let's just think about your own lives.

00:47:33.037 --> 00:47:35.767
Look at your lives, God came and saved you.

00:47:35.768 --> 00:47:37.886
Look at the things that He has done for you.

00:47:37.887 --> 00:47:39.226
Look at how He has cared for you.

00:47:39.227 --> 00:47:42.066
I look at the life of this church,

00:47:42.067 --> 00:47:45.089
we prayed for young people, and He gave us young people.

00:47:45.090 --> 00:47:47.581
We prayed for African-Americans, He gave us that.

00:47:47.582 --> 00:47:50.160
We prayed for missionaries, He gave us that.

00:47:50.161 --> 00:47:53.673
We've prayed to have a church in Austin, He gave us that.

00:47:53.674 --> 00:47:55.827
We prayed to have a church in Corpus, in Laredo.

00:47:55.828 --> 00:47:59.802
We have prayed these various things.

00:47:59.803 --> 00:48:03.429
I can remember one time we just came together, and for no other reason

00:48:03.430 --> 00:48:11.594
(we were in a drought season, there was no prediction of rain at all),

00:48:11.595 --> 00:48:13.874
and we got together on a Wednesday night and said,

00:48:13.875 --> 00:48:18.286
"Let's just pray to God for rain in this drought time,

00:48:18.287 --> 00:48:20.807
just because God can, and He's kind."

00:48:20.808 --> 00:48:26.031
And what did we pray for, rain for the next day
or for that Friday, and God brought it!

00:48:26.032 --> 00:48:28.094
Do you all remember that?

00:48:28.095 --> 00:48:31.793
I mean, why does He do things? Because He's love.

00:48:31.794 --> 00:48:45.813
He is a kind of God that says, "I sit on a throne of grace, and I'm sympathetic.

00:48:45.814 --> 00:48:51.652
I sent My Son in the likeness of your own flesh.

00:48:51.653 --> 00:48:55.640
He's a sympathetic High Priest.

00:48:55.641 --> 00:49:00.769
I sent My own Son to become one of you, and then to give Him up.

00:49:00.770 --> 00:49:05.308
And if you'll come to His throne, you'll receive mercy

00:49:05.309 --> 00:49:08.054
and you'll find grace to help in time of need.

00:49:08.055 --> 00:49:12.414
I am the kind of God that is there to give and supply needs.

00:49:12.415 --> 00:49:16.818
But come to Me, trust Me, fall into My loving hands.

00:49:16.819 --> 00:49:21.893
Cast all your cares, all your anxieties, all your sin, on Me."

00:49:21.894 --> 00:49:24.984
That's the kind of God that He is. (P)

00:49:24.985 --> 00:49:32.361
Brethren, behold the things He does. Behold Gethsemane!

00:49:32.362 --> 00:49:38.085
Behold the blood. Behold the anguish. Behold the cross.

00:49:38.086 --> 00:49:43.315
Behold the Son of God crying out,
"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

00:49:43.316 --> 00:49:51.411
Why? Because of love. Yes, justice demanded it, but love initiated that.

00:49:51.412 --> 00:49:53.691
Behold that.

00:49:53.692 --> 00:49:59.572
Brethren, behold the parable of the prodigal son.

00:49:59.573 --> 00:50:05.583
Do you think Jesus Christ was exaggerating when He gave this parable,

00:50:05.584 --> 00:50:09.681
and He showed a picture of this father who was waiting?

00:50:09.682 --> 00:50:15.302
God waits to be gracious to you: a Father who waits.

00:50:15.303 --> 00:50:21.859
And when he sees the prodigal on the horizon, he runs;

00:50:21.860 --> 00:50:32.160
the father runs with open arms - ring, and robe, and sandals, and feast.

00:50:32.161 --> 00:50:37.911
Now, do you think that when Jesus tells a parable,

00:50:37.912 --> 00:50:43.954
that it exaggerates the reality, or it falls short of the reality?

00:50:43.955 --> 00:50:50.923
Brethren, if you think God is unkind and harsh and cruel,

00:50:50.924 --> 00:50:53.906
you misread that parable, you misread Calvary,

00:50:53.906 --> 00:50:58.217
you misread Gethsemane, you misread what He did in the life of israel,

00:50:58.218 --> 00:51:00.964
you misread, brethren!

00:51:00.965 --> 00:51:04.262
God is love. (P)

00:51:04.263 --> 00:51:14.669
How about fourth observation: What about "God is a consuming fire"?

00:51:14.670 --> 00:51:19.763
What about the God behind that tornado that ripped through Moore, Oklahoma?

00:51:19.764 --> 00:51:24.811
I mean, what about that?

00:51:24.812 --> 00:51:30.735
God is a consuming fire - that kind of sounds at odds with 'God is love'.

00:51:30.736 --> 00:51:43.404
But listen, if these godly brothers who went before us,

00:51:43.405 --> 00:51:47.472
like Payson, Winslow, and Wesley,

00:51:47.473 --> 00:51:56.020
if they were right that 'God is love' means this is an essence that permeates everything,

00:51:56.021 --> 00:51:59.286
then I have a feeling that if we consider 'God is a consuming fire',

00:51:59.287 --> 00:52:03.693
we will find His love is there as well.

00:52:03.694 --> 00:52:08.555
And I would just remind you of this:

00:52:08.556 --> 00:52:14.905
Why does God even tell us He is a consuming fire?

00:52:14.906 --> 00:52:20.352
Is it so that we might cower with fear, and despair,

00:52:20.353 --> 00:52:23.964
and just throw up our arms, "Oh well, we're damned"?

00:52:23.965 --> 00:52:28.828
Is that why He tells us?

00:52:28.829 --> 00:52:31.477
We may find that God even telling us that,

00:52:31.478 --> 00:52:37.509
resonates with more love than we might at first perceive.

00:52:37.510 --> 00:52:46.878
Isn't God telling us simply this, that today is the day of salvation.

00:52:46.879 --> 00:52:54.552
While you have life and breath, cast yourselves upon these arms of love.

00:52:54.553 --> 00:52:59.879
Don't spurn them, don't harden yourself, don't be stiff-necked,

00:52:59.880 --> 00:53:04.687
don't go on, because God is a consuming fire."

00:53:04.688 --> 00:53:09.592
He has given it to us because He indeed waits to be gracious.

00:53:09.593 --> 00:53:12.808
And men resist His gracious advances.

00:53:12.809 --> 00:53:20.384
And if you keep doing it, if you keep refusing this staggeringly immense love

00:53:20.385 --> 00:53:25.599
that has been given to provide a substitute to bear our sins,

00:53:25.600 --> 00:53:30.233
then the consuming fire of God's justice will indeed sweep us away.

00:53:30.234 --> 00:53:31.729
But it's a warning of love. (P)

00:53:31.730 --> 00:53:38.543
And I ask you, even when God must become a consuming fire to His adversaries,

00:53:38.544 --> 00:53:41.557
with what heart does He do so?

00:53:41.558 --> 00:53:44.641
I mean, think about what Scripture says.

00:53:44.642 --> 00:53:48.594
Ezekiel 33:11, you know it well, "As I live, declares the Lord God,

00:53:48.594 --> 00:53:51.462
I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked,

00:53:51.463 --> 00:53:55.361
but that the wicked turn from his way and live.

00:53:55.361 --> 00:53:58.012
Turn back, turn back from your evil ways;

00:53:58.013 --> 00:54:00.107
for why will you die, O house of Israel?"

00:54:00.108 --> 00:54:06.797
I'll tell you, the feeling you get in Scripture is this: it is easy for God to love,

00:54:06.798 --> 00:54:12.633
and God does not take pleasure when His justice must take you out.

00:54:12.634 --> 00:54:14.930
That's the feeling you get from Scripture.

00:54:14.931 --> 00:54:18.345
God will be just, because He is just.

00:54:18.346 --> 00:54:24.901
He will do right - the Judge of all this earth will do right.

00:54:24.902 --> 00:54:31.613
But He is a Judge who reveals Himself as the God who is love,

00:54:31.614 --> 00:54:38.537
even when He becomes a consuming fire. (P)

00:54:39.924 --> 00:54:48.525
Brethren, He sent His Son to this world.

00:54:48.526 --> 00:54:52.618
And when they rejected Him, and when they mocked Him,

00:54:52.619 --> 00:55:01.314
and when they hated Him, here's the heart of God, Luke 19:41,

00:55:01.315 --> 00:55:06.004
"Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem."

00:55:06.005 --> 00:55:10.079
In another place He says, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem,

00:55:10.080 --> 00:55:14.169
how often I would have gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks."

00:55:14.170 --> 00:55:17.724
And what does He say? Not "I would not," but, "You would not.

00:55:17.725 --> 00:55:19.823
You would not!

00:55:19.824 --> 00:55:25.610
I extend My hands to a disobedient people all the day long;

00:55:25.611 --> 00:55:28.092
and you would not, you would not."

00:55:28.093 --> 00:55:31.308
When God comes as a consuming fire and His wrath falls,

00:55:31.309 --> 00:55:38.117
it falls on those who, with the light of conscience and the light of creation

00:55:38.131 --> 00:55:41.020
and the light of the gospel, have resisted the light.

00:55:41.021 --> 00:55:42.100
They've turned.

00:55:42.101 --> 00:55:46.135
They've exchanged the glory of God for every other thing under the sun.

00:55:46.136 --> 00:55:49.588
They've hated God, they despised him, they turned their back.

00:55:49.589 --> 00:55:53.269
See the heart of God.

00:55:54.820 --> 00:56:01.601
Ladies and gentlemen, no matter how you explain, how you teach,

00:56:01.602 --> 00:56:07.973
or how you otherwise interpret God's sovereignty, God's predestination, God's election;

00:56:07.974 --> 00:56:13.150
if you find that you cannot say the things I've been saying,

00:56:13.151 --> 00:56:15.656
you've gotten the heart of God all wrong.

00:56:15.657 --> 00:56:18.617
God is love. (P)

00:56:22.107 --> 00:56:28.170
Lamentations 3:33, "He does not afflict from His heart to grieve the children of men."

00:56:28.171 --> 00:56:30.402
He will afflict the sons of men,

00:56:30.403 --> 00:56:33.494
but it seems like that is the twisting of His arm.

00:56:33.495 --> 00:56:37.006
I mean, one of the texts that I came across this week,

00:56:37.007 --> 00:56:44.099
that I just felt I needed to stick in here
because I think it's just so telltale of 'God is love'.

00:56:44.100 --> 00:56:45.859
I mean, here you have Hosea.

00:56:45.860 --> 00:56:54.796
Hosea apparently was a prophet from the northern kingdom, like Jonah was.

00:56:54.797 --> 00:57:00.165
Those are the only two we know that were from the northern kingdom.

00:57:00.166 --> 00:57:06.370
Listen to what he says in Hosea 7:1, "When I would heal Israel," --

00:57:06.371 --> 00:57:10.561
did you get that right there? "When I would heal Israel."

00:57:10.561 --> 00:57:13.220
Will God heal you if you're in your sins?

00:57:13.221 --> 00:57:16.295
He said so, if you'll come to Him.

00:57:16.296 --> 00:57:21.837
But He says this, "When I would heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed,

00:57:21.838 --> 00:57:24.656
and the evil deeds of Samaria; for they deal falsely;

00:57:24.657 --> 00:57:27.451
the thief breaks in, and the bandits raid outside.

00:57:27.452 --> 00:57:30.542
But they do not consider that I remember all their evil.

00:57:30.542 --> 00:57:35.269
Now their deeds surround them; they are before my face."

00:57:35.270 --> 00:57:37.865
But when you read over a few chapters, listen to this,

00:57:37.866 --> 00:57:43.762
Hosea 11:8, "How can I give you up, O Ephraim?"

00:57:43.763 --> 00:57:48.762
I mean, in light of all their sin, He says, "How can I hand you over, O Israel?

00:57:48.763 --> 00:57:53.608
How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim?

00:57:53.609 --> 00:58:00.757
My heart recoils within Me; My compassion grows warm and tender."

00:58:00.757 --> 00:58:05.847
Can you feel the warmth of God in that? God is love. (P)

00:58:05.848 --> 00:58:09.669
We don't want to make light of God's judgments and His eternal punishment.

00:58:09.670 --> 00:58:13.861
It's no small thing to fall under the vengeance of the God who is love.

00:58:13.862 --> 00:58:19.059
I mean, listen to Octavius Winslow on this point, a point well to be taken:

00:58:19.060 --> 00:58:24.831
"Mercy is fearful when it turns to wrath.

00:58:24.832 --> 00:58:30.106
Love is consuming when it turns to anger.

00:58:30.107 --> 00:58:34.696
There is no wrath like the wrath of the Lamb."

00:58:34.703 --> 00:58:37.703
And have you ever thought about that imagery?

00:58:37.704 --> 00:58:44.661
The Lamb, the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world;

00:58:44.662 --> 00:58:50.730
the Lamb who came to take away the sins of the world.

00:58:50.731 --> 00:58:57.591
But when that Lamb is roused to anger, oh what wrath from the Lamb.

00:58:57.592 --> 00:59:01.987
I mean, even now the voice of God is this voice:

00:59:01.987 --> 00:59:08.424
"Why will you die? Why will you have Me come upon you as a consuming fire?"

00:59:08.425 --> 00:59:11.950
Ladies and gentlemen, if there are those here that know not Christ,

00:59:11.951 --> 00:59:13.951
is your sin so precious...?

00:59:13.952 --> 00:59:16.939
I'll tell you this, God is love;

00:59:16.940 --> 00:59:22.838
and if there's anything that will aggravate Him to a fury...

00:59:22.839 --> 00:59:27.979
I mean, can you imagine an earthly king if he has been insulted,

00:59:27.980 --> 00:59:31.861
he has been sinned against, he has been despised, he has been hated;

00:59:31.861 --> 00:59:41.876
and for him to come with terms of love, terms that are so kind -

00:59:41.877 --> 00:59:47.682
to have that enemy just hate it, fight against it.

00:59:47.682 --> 00:59:50.456
I'll tell you, when his wrath comes, it will come with a severity

00:59:50.457 --> 00:59:55.753
that it would have never otherwise come with. (P)

00:59:57.086 --> 01:00:04.938
Is your sin so precious that you're going to hold on to it and abandon this?

01:00:04.939 --> 01:00:12.579
Is it so precious to you that you would lay down
in the consuming eternal fires of God?

01:00:12.585 --> 01:00:17.736
I mean, can you imagine being in hell? Can you imagine?

01:00:17.737 --> 01:00:25.315
Can you imagine anybody in this room ending up in these eternal burnings,

01:00:25.316 --> 01:00:34.176
and the God who is love offered you an eternal weight of glory?

01:00:34.177 --> 01:00:38.621
He offered you membership in His family,

01:00:38.622 --> 01:00:44.004
He offered you marriage to His Son,

01:00:44.005 --> 01:00:47.005
He offered you full forgiveness and pardon.

01:00:47.006 --> 01:00:50.931
He offered to make you white as the new fallen snow.

01:00:50.932 --> 01:00:56.427
He offered to forgive all your crimes against Him.

01:00:56.428 --> 01:00:58.617
He offered all of that.

01:00:58.618 --> 01:01:01.512
He offered over and over. He offered to you.

01:01:01.513 --> 01:01:04.230
He came to you with His outstretched hands.

01:01:04.231 --> 01:01:10.509
He bid you, "Fall upon My grace, come to Me, know My love, swim in My love.

01:01:10.510 --> 01:01:14.820
Have it, I'll bestow it on you. Just come to Me. Surrender.

01:01:14.821 --> 01:01:16.329
Fall into these hands."

01:01:16.330 --> 01:01:22.192
Can you imagine waking up one day in hell,
and realizing all that was offered to me,

01:01:22.193 --> 01:01:25.470
and I resisted it, and I fought against it, and I hated it."

01:01:25.471 --> 01:01:30.305
Like these women that were on that boat, these soldiers' wives,

01:01:30.306 --> 01:01:36.118
to just say: "I'm going to have my sin.
I think I like my sin better than that."

01:01:36.119 --> 01:01:42.198
Are you going throw away your soul for that?

01:01:42.199 --> 01:01:45.822
It's an indescribable thing to be lost forever,

01:01:45.823 --> 01:01:52.662
especially when God held forth His love to you every day of your earthly life. (P)

01:01:52.663 --> 01:01:56.083
You even think about God, the God of that tornado.

01:01:56.084 --> 01:02:04.518
Thirty-six square miles, they said, of Moore were wiped out.

01:02:04.519 --> 01:02:09.067
You know, people in this world like to say, "Where was God at in that?"

01:02:09.068 --> 01:02:13.423
But even in that, even in that, what is it we find from Scripture?

01:02:13.424 --> 01:02:16.146
Well, I mean, one thing to think about is,

01:02:16.147 --> 01:02:23.338
the United States of America is somewhere around 4 million square miles.

01:02:23.339 --> 01:02:34.016
What about all the other 4 million square miles of the US
where sinners lived, and there weren't tornadoes?

01:02:34.017 --> 01:02:37.858
And even in the calamity itself,

01:02:37.859 --> 01:02:42.375
Daniel 9:13, "All this calamity has come upon us,

01:02:42.376 --> 01:02:45.135
yet we've not entreated the favor of the Lord our God,

01:02:45.136 --> 01:02:48.600
turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by Your truth."

01:02:48.601 --> 01:02:51.972
You see, these things are given to us to gain insight -

01:02:51.973 --> 01:02:59.343
the day is coming, time is running out, today is the day of salvation. (P)

01:02:59.344 --> 01:03:04.228
Isaiah 9:13, "The people did not turn to Him who struck them,

01:03:04.229 --> 01:03:06.095
nor inquire of the LORD of hosts."

01:03:06.096 --> 01:03:11.507
That's what He does that for.

01:03:13.303 --> 01:03:18.440
I mean, even in the judgments of God, He's beckoning to men: Repent.

01:03:18.441 --> 01:03:21.261
When He sends His plagues, there in Revelation,

01:03:21.261 --> 01:03:25.762
it says they did not repent and give Him glory.

01:03:25.763 --> 01:03:27.669
What did they do? They blasphemed His name.

01:03:27.670 --> 01:03:31.892
How many people blaspheme God because of that?

01:03:31.893 --> 01:03:34.893
They blaspheme Him in one of two ways, right?

01:03:34.894 --> 01:03:38.990
They either say, "God wasn't in that. God's impotent.

01:03:38.991 --> 01:03:42.566
God doesn't control storms, He would never do that."

01:03:42.567 --> 01:03:45.140
Or they just curse.

01:03:45.141 --> 01:03:46.975
You can hear them.

01:03:46.976 --> 01:03:49.784
They just use His name in vain, they just blaspheme it,

01:03:49.785 --> 01:03:51.585
when they see what happens.

01:03:51.586 --> 01:03:54.056
They don't turn to God.

01:03:54.057 --> 01:03:59.258
They dismiss Him altogether, or they find fault with Him.

01:03:59.259 --> 01:04:02.112
But God is doing this.

01:04:02.113 --> 01:04:10.368
I mean, have you ever got the weight of Scripture,

01:04:10.369 --> 01:04:17.703
where it says things like this, Psalm 136:1, "Give thanks to the LORD,

01:04:17.704 --> 01:04:21.181
for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever."

01:04:21.182 --> 01:04:25.005
There's His love; God is love; His love endures forever. (P)

01:04:25.006 --> 01:04:28.555
"Give thanks to the God of gods, for His steadfast love endures forever

01:04:28.556 --> 01:04:31.281
(or as the old translations say, His lovingkindness);

01:04:31.282 --> 01:04:35.204
give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His steadfast love endures forever;

01:04:35.205 --> 01:04:39.372
to Him who alone does great wonders,
for His steadfast love endures forever."

01:04:39.373 --> 01:04:44.556
But then he says this: "To Him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,

01:04:44.557 --> 01:04:48.901
for His steadfast love endures forever;

01:04:48.902 --> 01:04:52.528
to Him who overthrew Pharaoh and his hosts in the Red Sea,

01:04:52.529 --> 01:04:54.993
for His steadfast love endures forever;

01:04:54.994 --> 01:04:59.258
to Him who struck down great kings,
for His steadfast love endures forever;

01:04:59.259 --> 01:05:02.552
and killed mighty kings, for His steadfast love endures forever;

01:05:02.553 --> 01:05:05.964
Sihon, king of the Amorites, for His steadfast love endures forever;

01:05:05.965 --> 01:05:10.553
and Og, king of Bashan, for His steadfast love endures forever;

01:05:10.554 --> 01:05:16.962
give thanks to the God of heaven,
for His steadfast love endures forever." (P)

01:05:16.963 --> 01:05:20.229
Let me just tell you this, folks:

01:05:20.230 --> 01:05:25.411
God's judgments on some are His love to others.

01:05:25.412 --> 01:05:33.172
Listen, you need to understand this,

01:05:33.173 --> 01:05:37.601
Psalm 86:5 says this, "For You, O Lord, are good and forgiving,

01:05:37.602 --> 01:05:41.073
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon You."

01:05:41.074 --> 01:05:48.494
His love is for those who call upon Him.

01:05:48.495 --> 01:05:53.516
And for those that don't call upon Him, for those who fight,

01:05:53.517 --> 01:05:57.717
all things work together for good to those who do love Him,

01:05:57.718 --> 01:06:04.858
for those who are called by Him, even the destruction of the ungodly.

01:06:04.859 --> 01:06:10.596
And one of the most amazing things God can do 
for the sake of His people is put Himself on display.

01:06:10.597 --> 01:06:14.811
Even when He puts Himself on display in tornadoes, it's for our good,

01:06:14.812 --> 01:06:18.602
and it's with loving purposes towards us. His love is in that.

01:06:18.603 --> 01:06:20.985
Even when Pharaoh was struck down,

01:06:20.986 --> 01:06:24.073
even when Og and Sihon were put to death,

01:06:24.074 --> 01:06:29.999
God's lovingkindness, God's enduring love is there.

01:06:30.000 --> 01:06:33.489
It's abiding. It's good. It's strong.

01:06:33.490 --> 01:06:39.797
Seriously, if you will look at everything God does,
you will find loving purposes there,

01:06:39.798 --> 01:06:44.665
even when some of those purposes seem hard. (P)

01:06:44.666 --> 01:06:50.024
I'll finish very quickly with this, the fifth observation:

01:06:50.025 --> 01:06:55.953
I know that there are people in this church that struggle with fear.

01:06:55.954 --> 01:07:04.399
John himself says this, "Love casts out fear."

01:07:04.400 --> 01:07:09.735
Fear goes hand-in-hand with slavery, right?

01:07:09.736 --> 01:07:16.211
This is not a spirit of slavery that we've been given; it's a spirit of adoption.

01:07:16.212 --> 01:07:20.067
And slavery and fear go hand-to-hand in Scripture. Why?

01:07:20.068 --> 01:07:24.343
Because fear goes hand-in-hand with, John says, punishment.

01:07:24.344 --> 01:07:27.088
Fear has to do with punishment.

01:07:27.089 --> 01:07:32.987
Fear has to do with this thought, that if I don't do right,

01:07:32.988 --> 01:07:35.671
I'm going to be punished.

01:07:35.672 --> 01:07:37.408
That's how the slave works.

01:07:37.409 --> 01:07:41.756
If the slave doesn't perform just right, he gets whipped.

01:07:41.757 --> 01:07:44.434
If the slave doesn't do just what the homeowner wants,

01:07:44.435 --> 01:07:48.280
he ends up with welts on his back, like we heard.

01:07:48.281 --> 01:07:50.748
That's the mindset of a slave.

01:07:50.755 --> 01:07:55.690
And can I tell you this, some of you are gripped by this fear.

01:07:55.691 --> 01:08:04.495
And fear is always, bank on it, you can trace it back to slavery.

01:08:04.496 --> 01:08:06.748
You are falling into slavery.

01:08:06.749 --> 01:08:14.755
What John wants us to feel is this, we have
been saved by a God who is altogether love.

01:08:14.756 --> 01:08:16.982
And we don't have to fear Him.

01:08:16.983 --> 01:08:19.642
We don't have to fear Him. (P)

01:08:19.643 --> 01:08:26.040
Brethren, we need to have this sink in, that God is love,

01:08:26.041 --> 01:08:30.261
and blow away those dark mists that often shroud our thoughts

01:08:30.261 --> 01:08:33.586
and our minds with this terror of slavery.

01:08:33.587 --> 01:08:35.438
It does, as fear comes on us.

01:08:35.439 --> 01:08:38.068
And when does it come? Usually when we're looking at ourselves:

01:08:38.069 --> 01:08:40.357
"Well, how good have I been? how well have I performed?"

01:08:40.358 --> 01:08:42.501
You see, that's all slavery talk.

01:08:42.502 --> 01:08:46.863
And that lends itself to fear, because as soon as you start measuring yourself up that way

01:08:46.863 --> 01:08:48.872
with regards to your relationship to God,

01:08:48.872 --> 01:08:51.787
you look in the mirror and you see some defect.

01:08:51.787 --> 01:08:55.803
And the slavery mentality is: "I got to suffer for that."

01:08:55.804 --> 01:08:57.417
And so you walk through life,

01:08:57.417 --> 01:09:05.470
and it's like you harbor this underlying, or maybe not so underlying, resentment for God.

01:09:05.470 --> 01:09:09.736
You find His ways hard. You end up not liking Him.

01:09:09.737 --> 01:09:12.584
You don't like that God, because you see Him as a slave master;

01:09:12.585 --> 01:09:15.270
you see Him as hard and harsh; you see Him as unkind.

01:09:15.270 --> 01:09:17.890
And the devil will be right there to breathe that in your ears.

01:09:17.890 --> 01:09:22.211
Brethren, we have the kind of God that Dan Smith talked about,

01:09:22.212 --> 01:09:25.814
that when you do something wrong, 
like enter the army when you shouldn't,

01:09:25.816 --> 01:09:27.246
God gets you out of it.

01:09:27.247 --> 01:09:29.758
When you do something and resist His leadings,

01:09:29.759 --> 01:09:33.997
and go to work with your partner when you shouldn't have, God gets you out of it. (P)

01:09:33.999 --> 01:09:39.322
We have the kind of Father that comes along,
and He seeks to wean us from this world.

01:09:39.323 --> 01:09:42.959
And as He does so, He prunes off these idols.

01:09:42.960 --> 01:09:44.801
And it hurts, it's painful.

01:09:44.803 --> 01:09:54.037
But don't you realize, He is so deep in His loving purposes
He means to wean us from this world,

01:09:54.038 --> 01:09:58.815
and to grow us more fond, more favourable towards Paradise.

01:09:58.816 --> 01:10:03.383
He lessens our grip, He weakens our grip on the things here,

01:10:03.384 --> 01:10:06.405
so that we might be more heavenly minded,

01:10:06.406 --> 01:10:08.405
and set our minds on things above.

01:10:08.406 --> 01:10:09.996
His purposes are good.

01:10:09.997 --> 01:10:14.074
His providences, when they seem hard, what are they doing? What do they do?

01:10:14.075 --> 01:10:16.375
They test your faith, they make it stronger;

01:10:16.376 --> 01:10:19.136
they make you more like Christ; they break your pride;

01:10:19.137 --> 01:10:21.124
they make you more prepared for heaven.

01:10:21.125 --> 01:10:24.567
Does that sound like a mean and cruel Father?

01:10:24.568 --> 01:10:28.051
I mean, does not the writer of Hebrews say there in Hebrews 12,

01:10:28.052 --> 01:10:31.078
that we have a Father who comes along and disciplines us. Why?

01:10:31.079 --> 01:10:33.799
To be mean, cruel, harsh?

01:10:33.800 --> 01:10:38.829
No, to instill righteousness in us. (P)

01:10:38.830 --> 01:10:41.916
Fear. We need to put away the fear.

01:10:41.917 --> 01:10:45.620
We have a Father who really cares. God is love.

01:10:45.621 --> 01:10:50.717
He's saying to His people, I mean if anything,
1st John - yes, lost people can glean from it -

01:10:50.718 --> 01:10:57.841
but 1st John is written for God's people, and it's speaking to you.

01:10:57.842 --> 01:11:00.980
It's saying, don't fear.

01:11:00.981 --> 01:11:05.514
You believe in Jesus Christ? Don't fear.

01:11:05.515 --> 01:11:09.801
Fear has to do with punishment. It has to do with slavery.

01:11:09.802 --> 01:11:12.654
God is love. That's who your Father is.

01:11:12.655 --> 01:11:27.255
Like Psalm 48:14 says, "This is God, our God forever and ever. He will guide us forever."

01:11:27.255 --> 01:11:33.857
I mean, you have to think, Christian: God is love - this is my God;

01:11:33.858 --> 01:11:36.139
this is my God forever and ever.

01:11:36.140 --> 01:11:40.357
The God who reveals Himself this way, He's my God.

01:11:40.358 --> 01:11:43.153
You feel like, "Oh, I messed up."

01:11:43.154 --> 01:11:45.699
Yeah, but you have a Father who is love.

01:11:45.700 --> 01:11:47.822
What does that mean for you?

01:11:47.823 --> 01:11:53.207
That means, just like with Dan Smith, He'll work it out.

01:11:53.208 --> 01:11:54.584
He'll make it right.

01:11:54.585 --> 01:11:56.489
You say, "I've sinned." Go confess it to Him,

01:11:56.490 --> 01:11:58.957
He's faithful and just to forgive it.

01:11:58.958 --> 01:12:02.580
God very much wants you to get the matter right.

01:12:02.581 --> 01:12:05.240
He very much does.

01:12:05.241 --> 01:12:07.176
You say, "Man, I blew it this week."

01:12:07.177 --> 01:12:11.384
What are you gonna do, look in the mirror and be a slave?

01:12:11.385 --> 01:12:15.196
and be riddled with the slave's fear: "Oh, I didn't measure up"?

01:12:15.197 --> 01:12:18.561
What? Like any of us have? Any of us had a perfect week?

01:12:18.562 --> 01:12:21.765
Any of us had a perfect life?

01:12:21.766 --> 01:12:24.311
That's not what He wants you thinking. (P)

01:12:24.312 --> 01:12:31.003
And what you're doing is, as He's telling you, He's wanting to convince you,

01:12:31.004 --> 01:12:36.507
He's saying, "I'm revealing this to My people now:

01:12:36.508 --> 01:12:43.051
I am love; not just loving, I am love. I am your God.

01:12:43.052 --> 01:12:45.612
What kind of Father do you think this makes Me?

01:12:45.613 --> 01:12:49.292
It makes Me like the father there in the parable of the prodigal son,

01:12:49.293 --> 01:12:52.635
the kind who will run to you after everything you've done,

01:12:52.636 --> 01:12:58.020
and heap on you a feast - kill the fattened lamb.

01:12:58.021 --> 01:13:00.020
"But you don't know what I did."

01:13:00.021 --> 01:13:08.536
Well, yeah, I know what the prodigal did, 
he didn't do good things. (P)

01:13:08.537 --> 01:13:12.120
Fear comes from trying to be a slave again.

01:13:12.121 --> 01:13:15.827
Dear Christian, don't be that.

01:13:15.828 --> 01:13:23.201
Your performance - you will fear; you will fear.

01:13:23.202 --> 01:13:26.398
Stare at your performance, you'll fear.

01:13:26.399 --> 01:13:33.930
But that's not what God wants you to do.
He wants you to stare on "I am love."

01:13:33.931 --> 01:13:36.316
And if you've been saved any amount of time,

01:13:36.317 --> 01:13:41.900
all you have to do is look at your life, and you know He is faithful.

01:13:41.901 --> 01:13:45.810
He is faithful in His love, and He will not let you go.

01:13:45.811 --> 01:13:47.680
It's like Lloyd-Jones said;

01:13:47.681 --> 01:13:50.393
you know what, we can talk theoretically about love,

01:13:50.394 --> 01:13:52.898
we can talk theoretically about God is love,

01:13:52.899 --> 01:13:58.007
but there's nothing that matters aside from experiencing it.

01:13:58.008 --> 01:14:02.870
You can try to come up with your dictionary definitions of love,

01:14:02.871 --> 01:14:06.721
but until you truly experience it
(that's what you want, you want to experience it).

01:14:06.722 --> 01:14:09.983
Look, God is love. That's how He reveals Himself.

01:14:09.984 --> 01:14:14.447
He's Almighty: that means He's got the power to demonstrate that love.

01:14:14.448 --> 01:14:17.372
If you don't know anything about that love,

01:14:17.373 --> 01:14:21.673
He says, "I wait to be gracious; My arms are extended to you."

01:14:21.674 --> 01:14:28.585
I tell you this, you will find Him a thousand times
more inclined to save you than you think.

01:14:28.586 --> 01:14:30.432
Sinners tend to have this hesitation,

01:14:30.433 --> 01:14:34.087
that God somehow stands back and is aloof from them.

01:14:34.088 --> 01:14:39.142
Paul says, "No, He's close. He's close to every one of you,

01:14:39.143 --> 01:14:42.504
and He saves all who call upon Him."

01:14:42.505 --> 01:14:47.273
He will shower you in this love.

01:14:48.231 --> 01:14:50.636
Well, I know this just scratches the surface,

01:14:50.637 --> 01:14:54.269
and I know it's gone long, so we'll end with that.

01:14:54.270 --> 01:14:59.842
May God take something from that and make this real.

01:14:59.843 --> 01:15:01.571
Amen.